Flowers and Spades
By Dr. Larry Keig
Flowers and Spades is an infrequently seen, overlooked, and underrated pattern. It may also be undervalued. It is a simple and attractive design.
The flowers and spades are at the outer reaches of the patterned portion of the interior. The generous stemmed, leafed, and veined flowers and joined stippled spades envelop most of the surface. The eight flowers are placed between the tapered ends of the spades. In the center is an abundant flower with alternating large and small petals. The exterior is un-patterned as is the area under the collar base.
The pattern is highly restricted in range of base and surface colors. Except for a single prized example, all are peach opal. A pattern that was produced almost exclusively in peach may partially explain the relatively low prices Flowers and Spades have brought at auction. The fact that they vary widely in quality of color and iridescence and amount of opalescence undoubtedly also affect prices. Some are beautifully bright. Others are pale, dull, or fade from peach around the outer edge to clear in the center.
Ruffled Bowls
Dave Doty has 13 items, all large bowls, catalogued in his multi-year database. A couple more have sold recently. That is obviously a small number and suggests a short production run. They are also said to exist in small bowls but none have been confirmed.
Eighty percent of those reported are ruffled. While six- and ten-ruffled were made, most have eight. Their top diameters range from eight to nine and one-half inches, the majority around nine. They are three inches tall or slightly taller and rest on a four-inch collar base.
The showcased example is six-ruffled. It had been in Vernon Gillespie’s collection until it sold in July 2019 at a Wroda Auction in Ohio. It is a pretty one, with an interior which has the once ubiquitous but now apparently obsolete “orange-sherbet-on-a-stick” surface color and frosty satin finish. Its opalescence blankets the entire exterior. The iridescence on the inner sides features pastel green and yellow, the center teal.
This photo of the six-ruffled one is courtesy of Matthew Wroda auctions.
This photo shows Ingrid Spurrier’s eight-ruffle bowl.
Tri-Corner Bowls
Two tri-cornered bowls in Flowers and Spades have been reported. One is illustrated on Dave Doty’s website. It is (or was in 2004) owned by Bill Curtis. It is a lovely example. The other, also very nice, was until recently in John Rogers’s collection. It sold at the American Carnival Glass Association convention auction in Greenville, Ohio, in June 2019. Its new owner is Dave Noyes. Dave’s bowl is nine and one-half inches at its widest point and three inches tall. The iridescence in the vicinity of the pattern-defining areas displays mostly pinks and blues, within the flower in the center mostly pinks and pastel blue with a hint of rose, and at the un-patterned outer edge, where there is some stretchy effect, the marigold overlay dominates with a little pink, blue, and red in the mix.
The Flowers and Spades tri-corner bowl provided by Dave Noyes.
Ice Cream Shape Bowl
The ice cream bowl is the crown jewel in the Flowers and Spades pattern and one of the premiere pieces made by Dugan. A single example is known. It is also the first reported example of this pattern in amethyst. It had been in Karen Engel’s collection until it sold in June 2017 at the American Carnival Glass Association convention (Wroda) auction in Ohio.
The bowl measures nine and one-half inches in diameter. Its multicolor iridescence has been beautifully applied with what looks like amethyst flowers and spades and contrasting multicolor luster elsewhere.
One would have to think there are amethyst ruffled and maybe even tri-corner bowls and peach opal ice cream shape bowls in Flowers and Spades somewhere. Anyone knowing of any of these are asked to report them.
The amethyst ice cream shaped bowl, above, was from Karen Engle’s auction. Photo provided by Matthew Wroda Auctions.
This article first appeared in the ICGA Pump in the December 2019 issue and is reprinted with permission.
